Hello Idayakers!

Posted this in my intro thread, so just going to repeat myself here to my fellow Idahoans…
I am as green as it gets when it comes to kayaking, and specifically interested in fishing yaks. The problem is…where to start?
For background…I am not new to paddling. I have been in a canoe several times; used to whitewater guide 18’ rafts back in the day (on the main Salmon @ Riggins), and had a drift boat for several years (Salmon & Clearwater). I live north of Weiser and about 45 minutes from Brownlee Reservoir, so the majority of my fishing will be on the Snake, Salmon & Clearwater plus up near McCall on all surrounding lakes, reservoirs, and tributaries.
So, back to “where to start?” I have been looking online and reading reviews on several yaks. I have a budget of $1k to spend on ALL equipment. I have looked at the Emotion Temptation 11 & Spitfire 9, the Pelican Strikes, and the Old Town Predator (which was way out of my price range). I have looked at Hobie craft a year ago at a sports show (once again above budget). I am still wavering between sit-on-tops and sit ins, but see a lot of anglers choose sot’s.
 I’m also looking to get input on base layers, but will use my neoprene waders as a “dry suit” until hotter days.  I may get a shorts/short sleeve wet suit, some “frog togs” to keep dry, ect, and a good PFD (I like the ones from NRS).
All input welcome to help me on my way to maximize my days on the water 
-Scott

Well man your headed in the right direction! There are so many yaks to choose from it ridiculous. I'm a little partial to Hobie, and ya spendy, but worth it in more ways than one! Once I got in a Hobie I was hooked for life, now I'm a Hobie sponsored pro angler,  aside from that it's personal preference.  Make sure you have the storage you want for your gear and a little extra, look and think closely on what you will put on it (ff, pole holders, ect). Most of all practical! 
 Personally I used mine for everything from freshwater to saltwater,  tournaments, fly fishing, coastal estuaries,  you name it! I started in a 10 ft hobie sport but found out quick that's not enough for everything, now I fish mainly from and outback which is 11 ft, more storage, handle big water better and all around a good yak.

 Oh and just for fun here is a flyer for a bass series here in idaho. I can send you rules and more info if you would like. Cash payouts and prizes and alot of fun!
 
 Back to the yak purchase, demo yaks if you have the opportunity!  It's more valuable than you may think to have a better idea of what you want before you jump in head first.
 I will say that if you plan on any trout or salmon fishing or trolling in lakes it is worth it to pay the extra $ for something with a drive system, hands free fishing!!
 I would be happy to take you on a demo/fishing for a few hrs if you ever make it to burley,  we would be in Hobies, but a better idea of what you may want would be the primary objective. FYI you could find a used hobie in your range easily!

Now as far as clothing and layers, there again personal thing, I use waders when it's to cold, other than that I love the water don't mind getn wet, adds to the experience.  But I will say I have froze a time or two..lol. been out on some pretty nasty days and the waders and and a good rain jacket suits me fine. As far as PFD's go, I wear a wake board tech vest most of the time, it's a comfort thing, but when in the ocean or coastal river I suck it up and use and coast guard approved vest! And make sure it's good for your body weight and add some to it because waders, drysuits and such add weight. A close friend drowned with a pfd a few yrs back, unfortunately waders, 38 degree water and out of shape over weight didn't help the matter, once he was winded down he went. They pulled him up with his pfd on!!!

I suggest that you look for a used sit-on-top paddle kayak, for the following reasons:

1.  Why you should get a sit-on-top.  If you want to paddle whitewater and do a little fishing on the way, get a sit-inside whitewater kayak.  For examples of this kind of kayak fishing, see my posts at http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=13913.0 and http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=14090.0 .  If you want to go fishing on lakes and non-whitewater rivers, get a sit-on-top kayak.  It's way easier to outfit a sit-on-top kayak for fishing, it's way easier to store fishing gear on and in a sit-on-top kayak, it's easy to sit sideways in a sit-on-top kayak to get gear out of the rear storage area or to play a fish, and when you're on a river, it's way easier to jump in and out of a sit-on-top kayak to fish from shore or to wade fish.

2. Why you should get a paddle kayak.  I prefer pedal kayaks for lake fishing, and have a Hobie 13' Revolution.  If you intended to fish exclusively on lakes, I'd recommend that you get a pedal kayak.  But because you intend to fish on rivers on Idaho, I recommend that you get a paddle kayak.  If you try to use a Mirage Drive kayak on the kind of rivers you mentioned in Idaho, it's going to be a huge hassle because you'll constantly and repeatedly need to pull up the drive because the water is getting shallow.  And you're pretty quickly going to run that drive into rocks and gravel bars and destroy it.  Get a paddle kayak.

3.  Get a high quality used kayak.  Used kayaks can be much less expensive than new kayaks, and you can hope to find a used kayak outfitted with lots of great fishing gear.  Don't buy a cheap but lousy new kayak.  For the same money you can get a high quality used kayak.

4. Get a kayak which turns fairly quickly when the rudder is up.  For paddling lakes, you want a kayak which tracks well, so you don't need to do a lot of correcting with your paddle to keep the kayak going in a straight line. Some kayaks provide  straight tracking via a rudder.  For river kayaking you won't want to use a rudder because of the risk of hitting the rudder on the bottom, and the hassle of constantly raising and lowering it, unless you're paddling in a river which has consistently deep water.  And if the kayak turns too slowly, it will cause you problems in places on a river where you need to change direction quickly.  For fishing easy rivers, you don't need the maneuverability of a whitewater kayak, but you do need a moderate amount of maneuverability.  Try to strike a balance between tracking and maneuverability.  The seller of a used kayak may be able to give you some credible and reliable sounding information about the handling characteristics of the kayak, but in order to determine how maneuverable a kayak is you really need to try it out.  Take it out on a lake, paddle in a straight line, and see how much correcting you need to do.  Then try to turn it as quickly as you can by doing sweep strokes on one side.  See how many strokes it takes to turn the kayak 360 degrees, and how large the turning radius is.

I think you would be happier with a sit on top. more versatile as well as user friendly. Ive seen sit on tops for 95% of fishing yak set ups, I am partial to Malibu myself but there are a lot of good yaks for setting up fishing here in Idaho.

Thank you guys for all your input. I am pretty much leaning SOT paddle yak. I can see the advantage of a pedal kayak, but where I want to take this kayak the drive system will be out of it as much as in. If budget wasn't an option I would get a Hobie (or the like) for lakes and a more maneuverable paddle boat for rivers. That may be in the cards for the future. Right now I kind of like the Emotion Stealth 11'. Just seems like what I want to start with (decent price, good reviews, and gets me out on the water). I also have seen some great diy's with milk crates and PVC pipe to really get the most from your set-up. I also want to use this for trapping on a stretch of river that gets pretty shallow in places, so the SOT with "milk crate" set-ups can be swapped out for each little adventure. Up in Moscow for a work conference, so hope to stop in NRS on the way home :-)

Smilin...thanks for the tourney invite, but not really my thing. Going with the wader/rain jacket option, and layer accordingly. Someday hope to get the wife into a kayak, but it will be purely recreational and think she would really like a pedal boat over a paddle boat. 

pmmpete...you had some great input, and I was thinking the same thing about a pedal boat and the shallows. Some of the lakes I will be fishing have shallow shorelines with lots of down timber, so could also be an issue with a pedal boat. I will hit craigslist for used yaks, but my patience may run out and I will just go buy new...

I also have a friend who will let me use his 14' pedal yaks "whenever", so I have that option if I hit Brownlee or the like.

Happy fishing guys!

p.s. They are doing well on the steelhead this year on the Salmon and Clearwater :-)
 

Picked up a 11ft Ocean Caper, NRS Kayak Angler PFD, Carlisle paddle, and a few other accessories this weekend. Can't wait to hit the water :-)

Nice, congrats on a yak purchase....fish on!! Tight lines and be safe!